My first experience, towing a car with a tow rope, was quite scary.

in #cars4 years ago

Back when I was 18 or 19, I owned a very rare coloured 1988 325i touring. It was finished in malachite green (I have no idea if I spelt that correct). I didn't really drive it much, since it had an issue with the engine. It was getting about 2.7mpg. Yes 2.7 mpg, not 27.
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Anyway, my friend who is a hairdresser used to own a 1987 BMW 735i E32, finished in dark blue with grey leather seats. It was an amazing car, thou it needed some work to make it great again.

He said I can have it if I picked it up from his house. I was excited as having 3 BMW's when I was 19 was a dream come true, and I have always wanted an E32 7 series since my dad had an Alpina B12 back in the early 90s.
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One day, my best friend and I went to the house to collect it in my E30. My friend was a mechanic, so was able to drive it legally back to his workshop in a town called Uckfield.

It started, and I reversed it out of the driveway. I was really excited. My friend jumped into the 7 series and started to head towards his workshop, which was 10 miles away.

I followed in my 3 series, the trip was going smooth until, I saw the hazards come on, and he drifted to the side of the road. My heart sunk. I pulled up in front of it and went to see what was up. The car had a serious electrical issue, and everything had hard reset and turned to German, and it wouldn't recognise the key or anything.

My friend said I had to tow him the rest of the way home.

I was in a bit of a panic because I had never towed anything before. I ran to the petrol station a few seconds away and bought a tow rope.

I put the towing eye into the front of the 7 series, and murphy connected up the two cars.

He said, just take it easy. Let the rope between the 2 cars have tension, before properly pulling away. And let him do the braking in the towed car to slow me down.

Driving down all the country roads, I could feel my poor 3 Series didn't like towing a car almost twice its weight, as the auto box, was giving off a lot of heat.

We made it to our hometown, but before we got to the workshop, we had to go over the roundabout. But an error on my half when pulling away, snapped the rope and left him stranded on the roundabout. I had to quickly head back and retie the cars together, and be extra careful.

We made it to the workshop late that day. I was so excited, but I had to go home.

The next morning, I got a phone call saying that someone had vandalized my new car. I was very upset. My lights were all smashed, dented panels etc. I didn't get to keep that car for long, which was a big shame. I didn't have much luck with my second 7 series back when I was 21 either, due to an idiot salesman.